Question Number: 31877

Law 13 - Free Kicks 10/8/2017

RE: Adult

Garner felicien of Castries , Saint lucia asks...

A player give a back pass to his goalkeeper the goalkeeper pick up the ball with his hand the goalkeeper was about 1 yard from his goal line where should the referee place the ball for the indirect free kick and where should the players from the team stand

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Garner Thanks for the questionIndirect free kicks awarded to the attacking team inside the goal area are placed on the six yard line directly opposite from where the offence took place. Defending players can stand on the goal line between the goal posts which is six yards away or if outside of the goal posts they must be ten yards away from the ball in all directions.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

HI Garner, ah yes I will ASSUME we are talking about the old INDFK inside the attacking 6 yard goal area? It is an aberration but this restart is in fact not from where the infringement occurred! Instead the ball will be taken straight back towards the midfield (5 yards in this case) you did say 1 yard from goal line ? to be placed exactly on the 6 yard goal area line parallel to the goal line.

I will point out if this indfk infraction was to occur INSIDE the 18 yard PA (penalty area) BUT outside the 6 yard boundaries of goal area line for the goal line itself extends out to meet the corner of the PA then continues to the flag /touchline. Then the restart is from that exact point of keeper/hand contact.

If it happened outside the PA this infraction is a DFK!

Given the INDFK can occur as close as 6 yards to the goal and the defenders are required by the LOTG to stand ten yards away, Houston we have a problem. They wrote an exception into the LOTG that IF there is an INDFK closer than 10 yards up to the 6 yard minimum distance to the goal the defenders are permitted to stand ON the actual goal line UNDER the crossbar BETWEEN the Posts. In ANY other direction they STILL must be ten yards away.

Unfortunately when ever I see these rare events even the best referees seem to have a brain freeze in executing these kicks properly. The INDFK requires a double touch for the ball to legally enter the goal. It is at times comical to watch what goes on as it is sad when you think the referees really are not focused on the particulars . Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Garner, Firstly, a quick word about terminology - back pass is an imprecise term which is best avoided in a technical laws discussion. It is only if the ball is deliberately kicked to the keeper that a potential offence can occur. If the ball is passed using a part of the body other than the foot or if the action is not deliberate, there is no offence. Also the direction of the ball does not matter.

Having said all that, assuming the offence had occurred and the IFK had been awarded in the position you mention, the free kick is ''taken from the nearest point on the goal area line which runs parallel to the goal line.'' The defenders must remain ''at least 9.15 m (10 yds) from the ball, unless they are on their own goal line between the goalposts.'' (The sections in quotation marks are taken directly from the Laws of the Game).

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